Today was my very first day of school. I’d been waiting for this day for a while. I couldn’t wait to be old enough to go to school. However, it did not turn out the way that I had expected it to.
My brother had offered to walk me to school. On the walk there, I was so anxious I nearly jumped out of my shoes. To start off the day, Jem told me not to interact with him during the school day. He suggested that I stick with the other first graders. I did not like to hear this, but he said we would still be able to play together the same at home. I guess he just didn’t want to be embarrassed in front of his friends.
We also had a new teacher for our first year. Her name was Miss. Caroline. I had introduced myself to her a few days earlier, and she had seemed nice enough. Let’s just say that she and I didn’t exactly hit it off right away. Miss Caroline is new to Maycomb, and she took a while to introduce herself to us. Then, she read us a story about a cat, which was long. Many of the other children in my class didn’t have great imaginations, so it took longer than it needed to.
After she read to us, she wrote the alphabet up on the board, and called on me to recite it. Naturally, I didn't have any trouble with this. However, when she discovered that I could read and write, she seemed annoyed. She asked who had taught me to read, and I told her the truth. I had taught myself to read, it had always just come naturally to me. However, she didn't believe me, and seemed set on the idea that Atticus had taught me how to read. That was ridiculous. As if Atticus Finch had the time to sit down and teach me to read. I insisted that I had taught myself, but Miss Caroline simply ignored me and told me to get Atticus to stop teaching me. She said she wanted to teach me in her own way, and that Atticus was doing it wrong, or something.
Miss Caroline’s suggestions upset me more than a little, I loved reading stopping would be torture. I complained to Jem during the break that we have for recess and he told me that they were starting a new form of instructing, and then said something strange about cows. After the break, Miss Caroline showed us cards with simple words on them like ‘cat’ and ‘the’. I was starting to think that maybe school wouldn’t be that great after all.
I was getting a bit bored during the flashcard activity, so I began composing a letter for Dill. As I started to do this, Miss Caroline swooped in like a hawk again. She had to control her rage as she told me that I was writing wrong as well. I blame Calpurnia for this incident. As you know, Diary, Calpurnia will sometimes give me writing assignments for busy work during the summer.
Then, it got to be lunchtime. Miss Caroline told all of us to put our lunches on our desk. She walked around and looked at everyone’s lunch. Of course, Walter didn’t have one. Like I said, Miss Caroline had just moved to Maycomb, and she didn’t know about all of the Maycomb native families. When she noticed that Walter didn’t have his lunch, she asked questions like where it was, and if he forgot it. He did not answer her, and she tried to lend him money to buy a lunch. She really didn’t understand. So, I explained to her that Walter would never be able to repay her. Somehow, I had done something wrong again. Miss Caroline patted me on the hand with her ruler six times and sent me to the corner, which put me in a mood.
Later, I beat up Walter in the schoolyard. Jem felt badly for him and suggested that we invite him to have dinner with us. Walter agreed, and he and the rest of my family are in the dining room right now. I suppose I should go join them for dessert, but I just thought I should update you on my first day. All I can say is, I really hope that it gets better, otherwise I might have to quit.